For the third week on the Moldovan fruit and vegetable market, the wholesale price for potatoes is stuck at around 7 MDL/kg ($0.37/kg). This is a high price; over the past few years, it was higher only in 2019 – $0.4/kg. However, as EastFruit reported, market operators believed that the first November cooling and precipitation would drastically complicate transport logistics and entail the first “winter” rise in the price of potatoes. Weather conditions worsened by the middle of the month, but potato prices have not yet risen.
EastFruit analysts suggest that there has been no price rise yet because the price of low-quality local potatoes has exhausted the “growth potential”. An interesting situation has arisen when uncalibrated and disease-damaged Moldavian potatoes and high-quality packaged potatoes of European production (Poland, France, etc.) are sold on the shelves of supermarkets in Chisinau. Prices vary greatly.
At the same time, even though there are noticeably fewer Ukrainian potatoes on the Moldovan market now (apparently since they are becoming more expensive in Ukraine), there is still no shortage of supply of low and average-quality potatoes. However, the situation might change for a short period at the end of this week, when, according to the weather forecast, there will be the first snow in Moldova.
Source: EastFruit